Disputing an already-paid Parking Charge Notice I received in a hire car

LDast

Unless you can get a chargeback on any payment taken from your credit card, you will need to sue Europcar if you want to get your money back. It's no longer a parking issue. You'll need to brush up on the Consumer Rights Act 2015, sections 49, 50, 62, 68 and 69 are the ones most likely to apply to your situation.

moritzloast

UPDATE:

I wrote to Europcar a week ago, pointing out the things mentioned in the above comments (eg about my right to appeal, the BVRLA terms, the difference between a charge and a fine and that One Parking solution does not have the right to issue fines, how this goes against their own T&Cs, etc). They took a long time to reply, and as expected the reply I received from them today is more or less just a fob off. I quote in full:

"Thank you for contacting Europcar.

Having reviewed your comments, if a hirer has incurred a parking charge notice from a private parking enforcement firm, and the vehicle is owned by a hire company, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 allows the fine issuer to request the hirer details from the registered keeper of the vehicle. If the request is not acted upon, the issuer is legally allowed to pursue the matter through the courts. Given this change in the law, and the stance of the BVRLA (the vehicle rental sector's governing body), Europcar must therefore treat fines issued by private operators in the same way as those issued by councils; they must either pay the fines, or provide the details of the hirer, and if the latter course of action is taken, a valid, signed hire agreement must be supplied.

There is a commonly held belief that private parking enforcement firms do not have the power to enforce their charges, and this belief is strengthened by the fact that they often will not pursue individual drivers through the courts. However, as a large fleet operator, Europcar is more likely to be taken to court over unpaid parking charge notices, and must therefore ensure that the correct process is followed at all times.

The British Parking Association and Independent Parking Committee are the governing bodies of private parking enforcement firms, and it is only by being members of one of these that they are able to request owner/keeper details from the DVLA. This means that they risk suspension if they do not follow the prescribed code of conduct, which would prevent them from requesting details from the DVLA. They are therefore incentivised to act fairly and within the code, as complaints to the BPA and IPC can threaten their membership.

I would also like to clarify that on previous occasions, hirers have been able to appeal a fine, even if this was paid by Europcar, hence it was advised that you appeal the fine directly with the fine issuer.

Should you wish to appeal the fine, you will need to do this directly with One Parking Solution Ltd using the Third Party Authorisation letter we attached to our notification email sent to you on 22nd January 2025 - you need to include this auth letter with your appeal since the vehicle is under Europcar’s name. The appeal will need to be sent by post to the fine issuer’s address listed on the copy of the notice we have sent you.

If and when One Parking Solution Ltd cancels the fine and refunds us for the amount we paid, the cancellation notice from them may be forwarded to us so that we may review cancelling and/or crediting our invoice accordingly. Please note, our invoice cannot be cancelled until we have effectively received a refund from One Parking Solution Ltd for the amount we paid to them.

Our process of paying the fine, is covered by our terms and conditions clause 9.3.1.3, “Where we, at our discretion and for whatever reason, choose to pay such charges you will reimburse us the said charge plus our administration fee”."

As far as I can see, none of what they have said here answers any of the points I had complained to them with in a helpful way. They repeatedly refer to the charge as a fine, despite the fact it is not. They tell me I should still try to appeal the fine, even though this is formally speaking not possible once a fine has been paid. They quote anecdotal evidence of this having been done successfully in other cases.

What would be the best way to proceed from here? Even if I were to follow their advice about still 'appealing' via post, I'm no longer able to access the evidence that was provided by One Parking Solution in the first place for the charge (the online portal where this would have been available was closed as soon as the fine was paid), which would be necessary for even trying to formulate an appeal.

As always, any help you guys can provide here is much appreciated!

Coupon-mad

You cannot appeal after it has been paid.

Europcar has removed your right to appeal.

You should just bounce the payment (dispute it with your bank as 'unauthorised') if you are sure that the hire agreement doesn't cover parking charges.  Take the money back and let Europcar sue you if they think you're wrong. They'd have to argue against the CRA 2015 which I reckon they'd struggle with!

You can state that:

- Europcar has wrongly stated that the POFA 2012 is used in every case as a prerequisite to obtain DVLA data. This is not the case.  In fact, the POFA is not always complied with (or even used at all) by some parking firms. Europcar hasn't even looked at the Notice to Keeper they received, to see (and it seems Europcar don't even know what to look for);

- The British Parking Association and Independent Parking Committee are self-serving and are certainly NOT "governing bodies". The latter does not exist and has not used that name for nine years;

- Europcar has wrongly stated that the motorist can still appeal after a typical 'scam' parking charge invoice has been knee-jerk paid. An appeal to OPS after a PCN has been paid is not possible. Europcar's policy simply throws hirers under the bus, unfairly removing and denying clients the right to appeal and dispute what MPs called 'outrageous scam'/'extorting money' invoices from a known rogue industry;

- Even worse as a matter of law: there is no justification for this policy. The clause below gives Europcar an unfair unilateral power - with no specified £sums, checks or justifications - and as such, it falls foul of the fairness test (examples are illustrated in schedule 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015):

 clause 9.3.1.3, “Where we, at our discretion and for whatever reason, choose to pay such charges you will reimburse us the said charge plus our administration fee”."

Tell Europcar that you have disputed the payment and your bank will not pay it because it is unauthorised, based upon all the circumstances and the lawful reasons described above. Europcar need to wise up and transfer liability as their default policy, which a small admin fee would cover.

Le_Kirk

When did IPC change its name to Independent Parking Committee from International Parking  Community?

Coupon-mad

I looked it up. 2016.

Hence my suggested reply. 

Le_Kirk

Coupon-mad said:

I looked it up. 2016.

Hence my suggested reply. 

................. and yet their website is still International Parking Community!

Coupon-mad

No that's the right way round.

1505grandad

I think L_K was being facetious about the statement in the letter from ecp.

Le_Kirk

moritzloast said:

The British Parking Association and Independent Parking Committee are the governing bodies of private parking enforcement firms, and it is only by being members of one of these that they are able to request owner/keeper details from the DVLA.

Coupon-mad said
- The British Parking Association and Independent Parking Committee are self-serving and are certainly NOT "governing bodies". The latter does not exist and has not used that name for nine years;

These two quotes both say independent parking committee hence why I asked "When did IPC change its name to Independent Parking Committee from International Parking  Community?"

moritzloast

Another update: 

I have now received a second response from Europcar, as follows: 

"Firstly, we would like to apologise that you remain dissatisfied with our response to your query. I would like to clarify that if a parking company operates in an area, they are required to have permission from the landowner to do so and from reviewing images of the car park online, there is clear signage showing that the land is privately monitored and that parking Terms and Conditions apply.

As per our Terms and Conditions of hire, Europcar may choose to pay the notice or transfer liability to the hirer/driver however the notice cannot be ignored by Europcar as it can be enforceable if not addressed. On this occasion, you were liable for the Parking Charge Notice received as this incurred during your hire period and therefore, Europcar chose to pay the fine, as peer the Terms and Conditions of hire, that you have agreed to, when renting with Europcar.

I would like to clarify that it is not Europcar that have issued the fine. The fine has been issued, as parking payment was not made for. Whilst we appreciate the vehicle was parked, due to any vehicle issues you may have had, hirer’s are required to adhere to a car park’s regulations accordingly. As parking was not paid for, a fine has been issued, which has been allocated to your rental accordingly. Europcar cannot be held responsible for the fine being issued. Please note, if a station deemed a parking charge to be re-imbursed back to you, you would have been required to pay for parking, as per the car park utilised and the station would have reviewed and made a decision to re-imburse you accordingly.

Europcar has and will continue to pay or transfer liability in the event a notice is received from a private parking company. As advised previously, if you wish to appeal the Parking Charge Notice then you would be required to do so directly through One Parking Solution Ltd. [...] we can confirm that the correct process has been followed in relation to the notice received."


I find this response baffling, since it not only offers no answers to the points I raised in my previous email (I followed the guidance of @Coupon-mad in what I wrote), but also seems to be defending the charge itself from OPS. For what it's worth, the car park did not have clear signage (the English language signs at the entrance had been blown off by a storm, as well as the majority of them inside), and I also did purchase I parking ticket once inside. I am also not sure what some parts of the response are trying to say, the English is frankly poor at times (the bit about "reimbursement" in particular).

Europcar continues to advise me to appeal if I disagree with the charge, even though this is not possible. They also continue to classify the charge as a fine, which I was under the impression was false. Could one of you guys give me some clarity on this? My impression is that they do not meet the criteria of being 'fines' since they are not legally enforceable.

Thanks again!